Cylchgronau Cymru

please everyone. I am sure that every reader will find a great deal of interest, though if he is looking for a simple history of the area, he will be disappointed. The material in the book will fit into and supplement the reader's knowledge of Welsh history and Welsh society. Above all, it will hopefully show the people of the rest of Wales that the pedigree of Radnorshire (or Fferegs!) is just as Welsh as theirs. Robert Hughes Gladestry Malcolm Seaborne, Schools in Wales 1500-1900: A Social and Architectural History, Gee & Son, Denbigh, 1992, pp.273, £ 15. In his introduction to this book, the author states: 'The history of education in Wales has often been written with the emphasis on the controversies which accompanied many of the changes which took place. The present study takes account of the political and religious background, which is particularly important in Wales, but it is mainly an attempt to assess, after each phase of development, what of permanent value had been achieved when the dust of conflict had cleared away. Attention is focussed on the changes which took place in the internal organisation and external architecture of the schools built in Wales at successive stages from the Reformation to the end of Victoria's reign.' Because of its stress on the built environment of Wales, this book is different, in the study of the history of education. It should be of interest to serious students of the history of education and to local historians. Malcolm Seaborne has a long background of experience in Education and was Principal of Chester College from 1971 until his retirement in 1987. An Emeritus Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust enabled him to carry out his research throughout Wales and to publish his findings in this extremely interesting and useful book. Seaborne starts by considering Tudor and Stuart Schools and refers to the grammar school started by John Beddoes at Presteign in 1565. He uses Howse's School and Bell as a source. For the eighteenth century 'Schools for the Poor' are considered. The work of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge is considered, as well as charitable donations by individual people throughout Wales. Seaborne also notes how parts of churches were partitioned off in some areas, to hold a school. He quotes Bleddfa church as an example. In referring to 'Classical Schools' in the eighteenth century, Seaborne tells us that a grammar school was founded by the Revd Charles Price at Cwmddeuddwr in 1719. However, this school struggled to exist, even though it was provided with a new building in the churchyard in 1794 (which was replaced later in the nineteenth century by an elementary school). Chapter 4 is entitled 'Church Schools and the National Society, 1800-1875.' Dame Child's Charity School at Whitton, built in 1834, is referred to and we are told that the diocesan surveyor, Thomas Nicholson of Hereford, 'designed several good surviving Gothic schools in mid-Wales, as at Clyro (1859) and Knighton (1862) in Radnorshire.' The author puts 'Chapel Schools' and 'Works Schools' together in the